Friday, July 20, 2012:
Remember Israeli company PrimeSense? Yes, the same firm whose 3D sensors were pretty helpful in making the Kinect a massive hit for gamers and hackers alike. Its sensors are now being used in a new mobile robotic platform called SAMI. The life-sized, semi-humanoid robot prototype can be utilised cross-industry from healthcare to manufacturing to entertainment and intelligent transportation systems.
"Robots will be practically everywhere in the near future: assisting the elderly, in home care, as personal and security service providers, and they will circulate within a networked environment of communicating devices in the home and work place," said Ohad Shvueli, vice president, commercial markets, Primesense. "Primesense technology is positioned to help the robotics industry expedite the pursuit of practical, affordable robotic solutions and create a healthy robotics ecosystem for robotic entrepreneurs, innovators, designers, and application developers. Our sensors enable the robots to see the users and the environment around them."
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Created by the research and technology transfer lab CRIIF (Centre de RobotiqueIntégrée d-Île-de-France), SAMI has an expressive face, two robotic arms and an omnidirectional platform. It can not only travel alone and avoid obstacles, but also navigate in its environment and especially interact with people and objects.
SAMI integrates two PrimeSense sensors: one located in the torso to detect humans, as well as one on the mobile base for navigation to scan the environment and avoid obstacles. Using the OpenNI open source framework and PrimeSense sensors for applications in healthcare, industrial and research markets, SAMI is designed to do everything humans can do, including carry large loads and open doors. Another potential use aimed for SAMI is to enable to operating with workers (cobotics) for industrial applications. An operator even miles away in front of the PrimeSense sensor could move his body and his arms naturally, while the robot reproduced exactly the same movements.
Rodolphe Hasselvander, director general, CRIIF, said: "Thanks to advanced technologies such as PrimeSense 3D sensor, originally used in other consumer applications (such as gaming), we are beginning to see a revolution in robotics, opening up limitless possibilities. Both the PrimeSense technology and the sensor's affordable price allow us to reach the mass market with industrial technologies that will be feasible, usable and not too expensive," added Hasselvander.
Monika Bhati, EFYTIMES News Network
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